PWR BTTM

Billboard is reporting that PWR BTTM have begun working with a new manager and will be re-releasing their debut album:

But the band’s lawyer says the group has so far been unable to reach an agreement with Polyvinyl, the indie label that released — then withdrew — PWR BTTM’s well-reviewed second album, Pageant, to make it available again.

Throughout our 20 years, Polyvinyl has purposefully operated on the core principle that everyone deserves to be treated with fairness and respect. There is absolutely no place in the world for hate, violence, abuse, discrimination or predatory behavior of any kind. In keeping with this philosophy, we want to let everyone know that we are ceasing to sell and distribute PWR BTTM’s music.

If you have ordered PWR BTTM products from Polyvinyl and would like to receive a full refund for your purchase, please contact mailorder@polyvinylrecords.com. We ask for your patience as we work to quickly process all requests.

We will be making donations to the following incredibly important organizations: RAINN (rainn.org) to support its efforts against sexual violence, and AVP (avp.org) to aid its programs against LGBTQ violence.

Our hearts go out to all victims of discrimination and all survivors of sexual violence.

And now variousvenues have stated they have canceled upcoming tour dates:

BSTB cannot/will not support sexual predators/anti semitism in our scene and hence this event unequivocally is cancelled. We hope we can arrange future dates with Nnamdi and Tancred. All info re: refunds will be released next week. Thanks everybody for your understanding.

The swift reaction from fans and the music community, the record label, and many venues stands in stark contrast to how the music scene reacted to similar allegations in the pop-punk community over the past few years. As Jes Skolnik wrote on Twitter:

People responded the way they did to PWR BTTM because their fans and the wider queer community cared. Because there were frameworks we had access to and practice using. When situations like this come up again in any arts scene, people will look to this response as a model for responsible action. Other fanbases will hold their icons accountable in the same way.

If we want our music scene to be better, we have to care and hold those that continually violate our trust responsible. We’ve seen what that responsibility looks like and I think we should demand the same from artists and labels in our community. The t-shirt slogan got it all wrong, we don’t need to “defend pop-punk,” we need to defend people first and foremost.